Mental Health Service Lead

NHS; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization is seeking a Mental Health Service Lead in Milton Keynes. This role involves providing effective leadership to the Mental Health team, ensuring compliance with operational standards, and collaborating with various healthcare providers. Candidates must hold a registered nursing qualification and have experience in management within diverse settings. The position offers a competitive salary range and aims to foster a committed workforce dedicated to patient-centered care.

Qualifications

• Registered NMC Nurse or Social Care Professional required.
• Experience in managing multi-disciplinary teams, preferably at band 7.
• Familiarity with forensic mental health and service development.

Responsibilities

• Deliver leadership to all staff within the Mental Health team.
• Ensure service effectiveness, organization and evidence-based practices.
• Collaborate with partners to implement responsive operational policies.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Clinical knowledge

Problem-solving

Budget management

Team development

Education

Registered NMC Nurse, Allied Health or Social Care Professional

Recognised management training in leadership, policy or strategy

Tools

IT skills (word processing, spreadsheets, email)

Job description

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Mental Health Service Lead

The closing date is 25 January 2026

Main duties of the job

To deliver effective leadership and direction to all staff within the Mental Health team.

To ensure the service is cost effective, well organised, evidence based, & service user focussed.

To ensure that all targets and performance indicators as agreed with the Head of Healthcare are met, and where they are 'at risk' to communicate with the Deputy Director Operations North and Business and Performance Lead as soon as a risk is identified.

To be responsible for implementing service changes when required, ensuring effective implementation with measurable outcomes and to agreed timescales.

To advance innovative ideas and strategies and provide vision and inspiration to enable staff to deliver care more effectively.

To ensure that clinical practice in the team is delivered safely and in accordance with the Care Qualify Commission Framework, Professional Practice standards and any other relevant national policies and standards.

To implement a culture that focuses on improving outcomes across the care pathway for clients.

To work in partnership with the Prison and other healthcare providers to ensure there are clear and responsive operational policies, procedures and protocols.

To take a leadership role in the ACCT process and other risk management processes.

To provide cover for the Head of Healthcare as required

About us

We're passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic, in the patient's own home or in Health and Justice. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people. We're always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we're hoping to find our future leaders and we'll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career. With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more - whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.

Job responsibilities

To develop and monitor systems, policies and procedures that ensure compliance with best practice requirements in line with strategic policies and statutory obligations with respect to CPA, risk assessment, clinical substance misuse, Health and Safety, Infection Control and discharge planning.

To establish an effective working relationship with forensic and non-forensic community teams and other statutory, non-statutory and voluntary services.

To be responsible for developing excellence within the team, ensuring that there are clear systems in place and providing evidence that they are both in place and operating effectively.

To manage and deliver excellent assessments that provide high standards of clinical intervention through effective treatment plans and transfers / discharges, by providing management and leadership.

To ensure that all team members are aware of their obligations.

To ensure programmes of care meet the needs of individuals throughout their stay in the team, including detailed arrangements for discharge, with the patient central to the planning and decision-making process.

To implement and evaluate systems to monitor risk, making>

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

• Registered NMC Nurse, Allied Health or Social Care Professional.
• Recognised management training in leadership, policy or strategy

Previous Experience

• Substantive experience of managing within a multi-disciplinary staff team, including line management, supervision responsibility and operational management of services at band 7
• Substantial experience within a prison or low, medium or high security hospital setting.
• Experience of re-provisioning services and managing staff through change
• Experience of service development
• Experience of managing staff and resources.
• Experience of writing reports and delivering presentations
• Experienced in involving service users and carers in service planning and monitoring
• Competent in using IT, including word processing, spreadsheet and email.
• Experience of managing budgets

Skills & Knowledge

• Up to date knowledge of nursing developments, especially in forensic mental health.
• Ability to provide clinical advice appropriate to background and experience
• Ability to build and develop teams of people and to provide strong leadership to a diverse workforce
• Demonstrable ability to performance manages services to meet key performance indicators (KPIs) and performance targets
• Ability to identify problems and use initiative and creativity in problem solving
• Ability to communicate effectively in writing and orally, presenting ideas with clarity, for a variety of audiences.
• Ability to manage pressure and changing and conflicting priorities effectively.
• Ability to support and monitor systems for clinical practice
• Able to influence and use negotiation skills to manage differences constructively.
• A demonstrable ability to work closely with a range of stakeholders and other providers in helping plan the future of service provision.
• Ability to manage change and conflict
• Able to demonstrate a genuine commitment to principles of equal opportunity, fair access and service user empowerment, and the ability to translate principles into practice.
• Able to demonstrate an understanding of safeguarding practice for both vulnerable adults and children
• To demonstrate professional integrity, and an ability to present the nursing viewpoint within appropriate meetings
• Detailed knowledge of policy agenda in forensic Mental Health services
• Understanding of the NHS Long term plan, and direction of travel for mental health services in IC
• To demonstrate a positive 'can do' attitude despite the difficulty of any given situation
• To demonstrate the ability to weigh up situations and consider the benefits and problems before decisions are made.
• Demonstrable ability to plan and implement change in the service and ensure the involvement of the workforce in the programme of change.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

£55,690 to £62,682 a year per annum (pro rata if P/T)